A software developed by University of Michigan engineers and inspired, in part, by a Batman movie, could give any smartphone the capacity to sense force or pressure on its screen or body. ForcePhone offers new ways for people to command their mobile devices. The software could also enable users to push a bit harder on a screen button to unlock a menu of additional options, similar to right-clicking with a mouse.

University of Michigan researchers have used a 'kidney on a chip' device to mimic the flow of medication through human kidneys and measure its effect on kidney cells. The technique could lead to more precise dosing of drugs, including some potentially toxic medicines often delivered in intensive care units.

On your car windshield, ice is a nuisance. But on an airplane, a wind turbine, an oil rig or power line, it can be downright dangerous. And removing it with the methods that are available today—usually chemical melting agents or labor-intensive scrapers and hammers—is difficult and expensive work. That could soon change thanks to a durable, inexpensive ice-repellent coating developed by University of Michigan researchers.

A camera that can record 3D images and video is under development at the University of Michigan, with $1.2 million in funding from the W.M. Keck Foundation. While other 3D cameras are currently on the market, the new design should be smaller and able to achieve higher resolutions. 3D cameras are useful for a variety of applications including 3D movie filming and, eventually, virtual reality.

Researchers at the University of Michigan Kellogg Eye Center have developed a new nanoparticle that uses a tumor cell's protective mechanism against itself - short-circuiting tumor cell metabolism and killing tumor cells. "Our work uses a semiconducting nanoparticle with an attached platinum electrode to drive the synthesis of an anti-cancer compound when illuminated by light," says Howard R. Petty, Ph.D., professor of ophthalmology and visual sc...

Access to reading materials can be hard for the blind. As text-to-speech software has grown in popularity, braille has done the opposite - according to the Royal National Institute of Blind People, fewer than 1% of the two million visually impaired people in the UK use the tactile writing system. And, while text-to-speech software can provide increased accessibility to blind people using tablets and computers, it's also unable to convey the same ...

Solar cells capture up to 40% more energy when they can track the sun across the sky, but conventional, motorised trackers are too heavy and bulky for pitched rooftops and vehicle surfaces. Now, by borrowing from kirigami, the ancient Japanese art of paper cutting, researchers at the University of Michigan have developed solar cells that can have it both ways.

Enabling researchers to test how automated and networked vehicles respond to rare but dangerous traffic events and road conditions, the University of Michigan is building a 32 acre simulated city centre and four-lane highway. Researchers have said that the patent-pending Mobility Transformation Facility is a vital step in making sure these advanced vehicles can operate safely in the real world.